Loch Duart invites sea lice audit observers
SCOTTISH-based salmon farmer
Loch Duart has invited independent observers from a fisheries conservation organisation to monitor its regular sea lice checks.
Biologists from the West Sutherland Fisheries Trust (WSFT) will attend sea lice monitoring and other health checks at Loch Duart’s sites, which are in the north of Scotland.The move is intended to address any concerns that weekly self-reporting by salmon farmers – a statutory requirement in Scotland since March this year – is not subject to objective independent verification.
The WSFT was established in 1996 to monitor and protect wild fish stocks – especially wild salmonid populations – in West Sutherland. Loch Duart previously partnered with the organisation in
2018 on a sea trout tracking project in Loch Laxford, and has now agreed a programme for regular monitoring by the WSFT.
Trust biologists will visit four different farm sites each month to observe the counts, monitor procedures and record the results.They will review the data from all sites to establish consistency with the findings at those visited.
Dr Shona Marshall, Senior Biologist at the Trust, commented: “Being able to observe routine sea lice counting on a regular basis... will allow us to comment objectively on the quality of the lice data that is being submitted. It will also help us to better understand what is happening in our sea lochs.”